1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to jewelry, and more specifically to linkable jewelry articles that can form closed loops of jewelry such as rings, bracelets, or necklaces.
2. Description of Related Art
Jewelry is frequently made in a closed loop so that it may be worn around a part of the body; a ring is worn around a finger or toe, a bracelets is worn around a wrist or ankle, and a necklace is worn around a neck. That the article is a closed loop assists in it remaining on the wearer.
It can be difficult to find a comfortable or preferred size of a closed loop article of jewelry. In the case of rings, sizes are not infinitely variable and only change in half-size increments. Bracelets and necklaces are typically sold in specific lengths in multiples of inches. Adjusting conventional jewelry requires the intervention of a jeweler and cannot be performed by the ordinary consumer. It is desirable to provide jewelry which may be adjustable in size easily by the consumer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,932 to Epstein describes a modular jewelry link has a closed loop at one end and a U-shaped deformable hook at the other. The hook of one link may be inserted into and crimped around the loop of an adjacent link. In this way, bracelets or necklaces of varying sizes can be manufactured. However, once one link is crimped together with another link, the links are somewhat permanently attached; repeated opening and crimping of a hook will cause metal fatigue, and it will ultimately snap off. Thus, the length of a bracelet or necklace can be changed at manufacture, but not at the whim of the consumer. Further, the length of the overall article can only be incremented or decremented by whole link lengths and by adding or subtracting links. A very small change in overall lengthxe2x80x94smaller than one link lengthxe2x80x94is impossible. If the length is to be increased, the consumer must purchase additional links, if she can find matching links. Lastly, the links are not designed to be usable to form a finger or toe ring.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a linkable jewelry device that can be used as a ring.
It is another object of the invention to provide a linkable jewelry device that can be linked to other identical or similar devices to form a bracelet or necklace.
It is another object of the invention to provide a linkable jewelry device that can be linked to or unlinked from other identical or similar devices easily by a consumer.
The above and other objects are fulfilled by the invention, which is a linkable jewelry device. The device has a male clasp section and a female clasp section at opposite ends. The female clasp section is adjustably retainable by the male clasp section. A plurality of longitudinal inflexible sections are interleaved with and hingedly attached to a plurality of connectors. When the female clasp section is retained by the male clasp section, the device forms an adjustable ring for wearing on a finger. The male clasp section has a number of notches into which a crossbar of the female clasp section may be selectively retained. The ring may be adjusted in diameter depending upon which notch retains the crossbar. Two or more devices may be linked together to form an adjustable-length bracelet or necklace.